The Degenerate Bees Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ KKLLMMNNOO PPQQKKRRKKSSTUVVWWXX OO TT YYZA2QQB2B2C2C2D2F E2E2F2F2IIOOG2G2 H2| To Dean Swift | A |
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| - | |
| Though courts the practice disallow | B |
| I ne'er a friend will disavow | B |
| It may be very wrong to know him | C |
| And very prudent to forego him | C |
| 'Tis said that prudence changes friends | D |
| Oft as it suits one's private ends | D |
| Ah Dean and you have many foes | E |
| Behind before beneath your nose | E |
| And fellows very high in station | F |
| Of high and low denomination | F |
| Who dread you with a deadly spite | G |
| For what you speak and what you write | G |
| Where between satire and your wit | H |
| They feel themselves most sorely bit | H |
| Ah can a dunce in church or state | I |
| So overflow with froth and hate | I |
| And can a scribbling crew so spurt | J |
| On Pope and Swift who stand unhurt | J |
| - | |
| Ah can it be a mighty race | K |
| For giants may hold power and place | K |
| Can scandals raise and libels pen | L |
| To prove that they are worthy men | L |
| They suffered from your pen 'tis true | M |
| Therefore you have from them your due | M |
| You have no friends be it understood | N |
| Except myself and wise and good | N |
| To lay the matter on the table | O |
| And give it point I'll tell a fable | O |
| - | |
| A bee who greedy was of gain | P |
| But wanted parts him to maintain | P |
| Seeing small rogues by great ones thrive | Q |
| Corruption sowed throughout the hive | Q |
| And as he rose in power and place | K |
| Importance settled on his face | K |
| All conscience found with him discredit | R |
| But impudence the loudest merit | R |
| Wealth claimed distinction and found grace | K |
| But poverty was ever base | K |
| Right law and industry gave way | S |
| Where'er his selfish rule had sway | S |
| And so corruption seized the swarm | T |
| Who plundered underneath his arm | U |
| Thus he harangued Whilst vulgar souls | V |
| Waste life in low mechanic holes | V |
| Let us scorn drudgery the drone | W |
| And wasp whose elegance we own | W |
| Like gentlemen sport in the rays | X |
| Of sunbeams on all summer days | X |
| It were not fitting they should moil | O |
| They live upon their neighbour's toil | O |
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| A bee with indignation warm | T |
| Stepped forth from the applauding swarm | T |
| - | |
| The laws our native hives protect | Y |
| And for the laws bees hold respect | Y |
| I do not mind your frown I cry | Z |
| Bees live by honest industry | A2 |
| 'Twas toil and honest gain to thrive | Q |
| Which gave us an ancestral hive | Q |
| Which gave us our time honoured dome | B2 |
| Bequeathed with store of honeycomb | B2 |
| Pursue the self same road to fame | C2 |
| By which your fathers won their name | C2 |
| But know the road you are pursuing | D2 |
| Will lead you to the brink of ruin | F |
| - | |
| He spoke but he was only hissed | E2 |
| And from his cell forthwith dismissed | E2 |
| With him two other friends resigned | F2 |
| Indignant at the Apian mind | F2 |
| These drones who now oppress the State | I |
| Proclaim our virtue by their hate | I |
| The exile said our honest zeal | O |
| Will serve again the common weal | O |
| And we be sure shall be replaced | G2 |
| When they shall from this hive be chased | G2 |
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| Lords Oxford and Bolingbroke in are intended | H2 |
John Gay
(1)
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